biblically orthodox, broad-based, global Anglicanism

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Archbishop Foley Beach, Primate of the Anglican Church in North America and Chairman-designate of Gafcon, will be visiting mainland Britain in October. He will be accompanied on his speaking tour by Bishop Andy Lines.

Gafcon UK welcomes the recent statement by the Evangelical Fellowship of the Church in Wales, which gives a pastorally sensitive and doctrinally clear summary of the biblically orthodox position on the issue of same sex relationships.

EFCW is absolutely correct to warn of the serious implications of the Welsh Bishops’ plan to push ahead with sanctioning services of blessing for same sex relationships. Such a move rejects the unambiguous teaching of the bible on God’s guidelines for human flourishing, and will indeed “lead to impaired communion with our Anglican brothers and sisters in the majority world”.

It is a serious matter when faithful Anglicans conclude that their own Bishops are departing from their commitment to promote and defend the apostolic deposit of doctrine and ethics. We will stand with EFCW and those Anglicans in Wales who take a similar view, praying for them as they consider the next step, and we urge all orthodox Anglicans around the world to do the same.

The Evangelical Fellowship of the Church in Wales: A Statement following the discussion at Governing Body on “Formal Measures” for Same-Sex Couples

EFCW recognises that churches have often failed in their pastoral care of people with same-sex attraction. We recognise that the way we have spoken about this issue has at times been unloving and judgemental, and that this has caused personal hurt and left people feeling unable to be honest about their sexuality. We repent of these failures, and commit to doing all we can to ensure our churches are fully welcoming and inclusive of all. We welcome the Bishops' wish to offer pastoral support and care for all same-sex attracted people and commit to doing so with Christ-like love.

However, we believe that God’s revelation to us regarding the nature of marriage and the proper place of sex is beyond doubt, and that this must be what guides our teaching and practice as an apostolic church.

Throughout the whole of Scripture, beginning with God’s creation of humanity in Genesis 1 & 2, and continuing until the beautiful picture of the marriage of the Lamb to his bride the church at the end of Revelation, the following things are consistently affirmed:

-That marriage is between a man and a woman.

-That the appropriate place for sexual activity is within marriage.

-That sexual activity outside of marriage is outside of God’s will and therefore sinful.

Jesus explicitly affirms this understanding of marriage in Matthew 19:4-6. The authority of Scripture, its consistency and utter clarity are what make this matter so important.

We therefore do not believe that it can possibly be right for the church to bless what God has clearly said he does not bless, nor to say that what God has said is sin is not sin.

We are all sinners who fall far short of the glory of God, and who stand before him only by his grace through our faith in Christ. This faith challenges all individuals and all cultures in different ways, and Christians are called to live counter-cultural lives, being in the world but not of the world. The difference between the church’s teaching on sexuality and the views of modern Western society is just one example of this.

We stand with the large majority of the Anglican communion and the large majority of the world-wide church in affirming that which the church has always believed and practised regarding marriage and sex. We urge our Bishops not to encourage the Church in Wales to take steps that would lead to impaired communion with our Anglican brothers and sisters in the majority world.

We do not believe that it is “pastorally unsustainable” to teach that which our good and loving Creator says is the right way for his creatures to live: the way Christians have lived for almost 2000 years across a world-wide diversity of cultures.

We affirm Living Out, True Freedom Trust, and other organisations providing support for same-sex attracted Christians, showing the plausibility of living according to the biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality, and challenging churches to be families where all may find deep, loving, supportive and fulfilling relationships.

We commit to doing all that we can in our teaching, personal actions and church communities to ensure that the two gifts of marriage and singleness are equally affirmed and supported as good ways of life in which all people can flourish as the fully authentic selves God has created them to be.

The Executive Committee of the Evangelical Fellowship of the Church in Wales, 26th September 2018

We note that only those in civil marriages or lawfully recognised partnerships will be eligible for these blessings. This shows that while a short time ago many church leaders around the world were arguing for such blessings but drew the line at same-sex marriage (as in the Church of England’s Pilling Report), now that line appears to have been removed. With this decision, another Anglican Province follows TEC, Canada and Scotland in believing it has the authority to redefine marriage, and offer the Church’s blessing to relationships which the Bible and centuries of Christian tradition clearly teach that God warns against and cannot bless.

It is encouraging that despite the huge pressure to conform to Motion 29 and the secular humanist ideology behind it, many courageous New Zealand Anglicans not only voted against the Motion, but are already looking to the emergence of new Anglican structures, which remain faithful to the Scriptures in contrast to those who have departed from them.

We pray for Rev Jay Behan and others in Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans New Zealand, and rejoice in their close association with the majority of Anglicans worldwide who continue to preach the biblical gospel of repentance from sin and new life in Christ. Jay and other representatives from FCANZ will receive a warm welcome and full support from all at June’s Gafcon gathering, and ongoing solidarity from Gafcon UK as they plan for the future.

Anglican Network in Canada, part of the Anglican Church in North America, and the Diocese into which Andy Lines was consecrated Bishop in June 2017, has recently launched a new website. They say: “We are a continent-wide family of churches which, like the majority of Anglicans worldwide, remain faithful to established Christian doctrine and Anglican practice...We believe the Bible is the word of the one true God and that the good news about Jesus Christ and what he's done for us is the power of God for salvation."

Friday morning I woke up buzzing. This is “not normal” for me at the end of the working week. I was buzzing about the Anglican Church. This, in part by my own fault, is for me, not merely “not normal”, it is a something I had missed for quite some time. A member of Archbishop’s Council and General Synod summed-up how I have been feeling in her recent resignation statement,

“…as a corporate body [the Church of England has] become unable to articulate the reality of sin, repentance and forgiveness- without this message we do not teach a true gospel and people do not get saved”.

That is not the sort of stuff to make you wake-up buzzing about the Church on a Friday.

But this Friday was the morning after the night before - the night of the first Anglican Mission in England ordinations.

For those of us who have longed for an Anglicanism where, as Paul Simon would say “You can call me Al”- BiblicAL, HistoricAL, GlobAL, EpiscopAL and MorAL and who have been “unchurched” by capitulation to an agenda of “good disagreement” and plural truth, it was all there. A new Anglican home.

Biblical throughout- not least in the preaching of the Reverend Rico Tice as he presented King Jesus in all authority, over all nations, in all truth and for all time.

Historical- rooted in the 1662 liturgy with the same charge that has been given to ordinands for centuries.

Global- with prayers and greetings from four GAFCON Primates and in the presence of four representatives of the Anglican Church of North America.

Episcopal- led by Bishop Andy Lines four bishops ordained the men and did so alongside a phalanx of “other presbyters” with bishops of at least three other Anglican churches in attendance.

Moral- we were warned that the Lord will not go with any church in mission that does not strive for purity.

As we had been reminded in prayer on the Thursday evening Christians live with the sure and certain hope of going home to glory. It is a home where people of every tribe and language and people and nation gather around the throne of the lamb who was slain and proclaim his glory in truth. Thursday evening was a foretaste of that eternal home. That is why I was buzzing come Friday.

I didn’t notice him at first - he was sitting on his own at the underground station, slightly hunched over and absorbed in his thoughts.

“It’s a home he said, isn’t it? It’s a home”.

One of the best known conservative evangelicals in England was sat on an East End tube platform talking about the hope of home because he too had been at the AMiE ordinations.

A significant event in the life of the Church will take place on Thursday 7th December 2017 in London. The Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) will be holding its first ordination service led by the newly consecrated Missionary Bishop, Andy Lines.

AMiE is a growing network of churches who are Anglican by conviction. They are not part of the central structures of the Church of England but are connected to the global Anglican family through Gafcon.

We were delighted when Andy Lines was consecrated as Missionary Bishop to Europe, on 30th June 2017, by the Anglican Church in North America. One of Bishop Andy’s primary responsibilities is to give oversight to the current congregations of the Anglican Mission in England, and to make provision for future growth. A new generation of ordained leaders will be essential if AMiE is to achieve its gospel desire of planting 25 churches by 2025 and 250 by 2050.

Up until now, AMiE's clergy have either come from the Church of England, or have been ordained by overseas Bishops. Now, for the first time, nine men will be ordained together by an English Bishop who can give them regular oversight as they begin their ministries.

The ordination service on 7th December will be a celebration of the commissioning and sending out of new ministers of the gospel, who have gone through a process of rigorous discernment and training. We are praying that these newly ordained leaders will be used by God to grow his church both in number and maturity. Some will serve in existing AMiE congregations, while others will lead teams engaged in planting new churches.

The people of Christ Church, Harris, announced today that they can no longer remain under the oversight of the bishop of Argyll and the Isles, the Right Reverend Kevin Pearson. This follows his decision to support the change to the canons of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) which introduced the innovation of same-sex marriage.

At a meeting with Bishop Pearson, they explained their decision and asked if the Scottish Episcopal Church would keep the church they have built and the money they have given. The bishop insisted that the SEC would retain all assets. In response the congregation made it clear that they would walk away rather than submit to a decision which departs from scripture, tradition and the teaching of Jesus Christ,

The people of Christ Church will maintain a faithful Anglican witness on Harris under the oversight of the Right Reverend Andy Lines, who was consecrated as a missionary bishop for Europe in June and who will act under the authority of the GAFCON primates.

The fact that Lorna Ashworth has served on General Synod for 12 years, and was chosen to serve on Archbishops’ Council, shows the respect in which she is held by her peers. Her people skills, her considerable abilities in mastering complicated church business, and in articulating a point of view clearly and consistently, are well known to many. And yet Lorna is not interested in power, in making a name for herself or in being the centre of attention; rather she has simply wanted to serve, whether in Synod, in her local church, in her workplace, or as a wife and mother.

She has for all this time considered that it is worth being present at the Synod meetings, graciously but fearlessly putting forward a biblically faithful perspective even when she found herself in a minority or even alone in doing so, and encouraging less courageous colleagues to stand up when needed. But clearly a tipping point has been reached, where she has felt that her presence in these senior governing bodies is no longer achieving anything positive. “I refuse to be mistaken as one participating in the fanciful notion of ‘good disagreement’”, she says in her resignation letter. She saw that her presence as a conservative on Archbishop’s Council was no longer a moderating influence, but being used to legitimize the revisionist agenda on which she believes the Church of England has embarked.

The question with which she ends her letter is a telling one which is relevant to all faithful Anglicans around the world: given the inability of the Church of England leadership to articulate clearly and fully the saving message of Jesus Christ, for how long will God continue to use this institution to as his witness in the nation? And for how long can the wider Anglican Communion be expected to look to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England for credible leadership?

Lorna has said that she will continue to support those who share her orthodox understanding of the Christian faith, but choose to remain on Synod. And of course there remain hundreds of faithful clergy and congregations at local parish level in the Church of England, many of whom identify with Gafcon. However, increasingly their gospel work is confused and even contradicted by other theologies found in the higher structures of the institution. Whatever happens with the Church of England, as Lorna says, God is continuing his work through other ecclesial expressions, both Anglican (outside the C of E, connected to Gafcon) and non-Anglican.

Gafcon UK applauds Lorna Ashworth, who has been a member of the Gafcon UK Task Group, for her courageous stand for the truth, and will look to continue working with her in her future ministries.

The Primates’ Communiqué appears to continue promoting the narrative of Anglicans ‘walking together’ despite the absence of four Provinces representing millions of Anglicans, and despite profound disagreement expressed within the meeting on understandings of what it means to be Christian, and how we know what is right and wrong.

The Bishop Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church played a leading role in the Primates’ Conference. Although there was talk of ‘consequences’ for SEC’s action, he was unrepentant, and showed no concern for those under his care who cannot accept the decision to redefine marriage. They now feel betrayed and de-churched. Meanwhile millions of Anglicans will be concerned that the Communiqué does not appear to express any view on the actions of SEC or the thinking behind it.

The document does not address false teaching, but focuses on ‘border crossing’ as if it is more harmful. I take the long-established view of orthodox Anglicans across the world, that we cannot make an equivalence between Provinces who choose to abandon key aspects of biblical theology and ethics, tearing the fabric of the Communion and putting souls in danger, and those who respond to calls for help from faithful Anglicans within those Provinces. My role as Gafcon missionary Bishop is clearly needed more than ever: to provide ministry to and encourage emerging congregations of faithful Anglicans in Britain outside the official structures.

They, along with many within those structures want to be part of a global movement based on the unchanging truths of God’s word, and obedience to that word which includes ministry mentioned in the Communiqué: evangelism and discipleship, and also compassionate response to those suffering in contexts of violence and poverty; ministry of which Gafcon-aligned provinces are at the cutting edge.

Many church leaders, parishes and individual Anglicans in Britain now increasingly identify with the values and global vision of Gafcon, rather than the all too familiar trend to follow “another Gospel”: theology and practice that is seen to be more in keeping with our rapidly secularizing culture. Here is a suggested PCC resolution for those who want to publicly affiliate to this global fellowship committed to preserving and proclaiming historic, apostolic, biblical Christian faith. In this way we can support the Gafcon movement and be refreshed by the spiritual wisdom and vitality of the worldwide Church.

Parochial Church Council Affiliation to Gafcon: A Model Resolution

That this Parochial Church Council:

Rejoices in the fresh clarity and confidence of Anglican witness to Jesus Christ being brought about through the Gafcon movement’s commitment to the authority of the Bible;

Subscribes to the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration as a contemporary statement of orthodox Anglican doctrinal identity;

Continues to pray that those Anglican Churches which have embraced a different gospel will come to repentance, without which there can be no true reconciliation;

Commits to the fellowship of the Gafcon movement through:

Prayer

Participation in Gafcon events regionally

Developing global mission links with like-minded partners

Sharing in responsibility for the financial support of Gafcon so that the noble work of this movement can be sustained and grow.

Please contact Canon Charles Raven, Gafcon Membership Development Secretary, (charlesraven@gafcon.org) if you would like a representative of Gafcon to meet with the Church Council, and please notify him once a resolution has been passed.

Gafcon will pass on details of all affiliated PCC’s/DCC’s to Gafcon UK to help with coordination and communication regionally.

Reports and commentary on the June 30th event in which a number of Primates of the Anglican Communion participated in the consecration of Bishop Andy Lines as a missionary from ACNA to faithful Anglicans in Britain and Europe who are no longer in fellowship with official structures and are establishing new congregations.

Gafcon events in England and USA The events at the Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America coincided with two Gafcon meetings in England, addressed by Archbishop Peter Jensen and others. Report by Andrew Symes, Anglican Mainstream.

Gafcon Chairman’s letter, in which he praises the consecration of Andy Lines, and says: “The need for Gafcon to safeguard the integrity and clarity of global Anglican mission is as urgent as it has ever been.”

Many in the church are trying to keep their heads down and be ‘moderate’ in the debate about same sex relationships. Can this work?

Archbishop Jensen says: "It has not worked. It cannot work. It will not work.

I mean the idea that we will be able to find a middle ground, where we will be able to be quietly or relatively conservative, while allowing for a denominational variety which blesses sexual relations outside the bonds of traditional marriage...."

[…] Gafcon stands ready to recognise and support orthodox Anglicans in Scotland and elsewhere in Europe as the drift away from apostolic faith and order continues. For reasons of mission and conscience, we can expect to find a growing number of orthodox Anglican congregations needing oversight outside traditional structures, as is already the case with the Anglican Mission in England.

The creation of a missionary bishop for Europe is an historic moment. It is a recognition that the era of European Christendom has passed and that in this 500th anniversary year of the Reformation, a new start is being made by building global partnerships for mission.

"[...] Canon Andy Lines’ consecration will not be irregular or invalid. His Holy Orders in the Province of South America have been duly and lawfully transferred to, and likewise received by, the ACNA. He will be consecrated by acting primates, archbishops and bishops of the Anglican Communion. His consecration will fall within the historical tradition of faithful Bishops who have created order in the Church during times of crisis. These are times when faith and doctrine have been threatened by others’ failure to guard against false teaching—or worse, have actively promoted such false teaching. One can trace this all the way back to Athanasius and the crisis of Arianism in the early Church. Faithful bishops like Athanasius disregarded the boundaries and autonomy of Arian dioceses in order to consecrate Biblically faithful bishops for Biblically faithful Christians. The consecration of a missionary bishop by GAFCON for Europe is as much an emergency as the consecrations that Athanasius and other faithful bishops performed, and just as necessary to guard the faith and order of the Church and prevent spiritual harm to biblically faithful Christians."

[...] Justin Welby sat back and did nothing to prevent the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) from apostasizing itself. As Archbishop of Canterbury, titular head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, he should have intervened long before the SEC voted to abandon the faith and embrace sexual revisionism. Had he done so, he would have been fulfilling his responsibility as a bishop to maintain the unity of the church. Instead, he completely abdicated that responsibility, leaving faithful Christians in Scotland as sheep without a shepherd and forcing one of his own episcopal colleagues in England to break communion with the Scottish church.

5. Welby told ‘we cannot agree to disagree’ on sexuality Harry Farley in Christian Today reports that Lee Gatiss of Church Society, normally very positive about the Church of England, strongly criticizes the policy of “good disagreement” over a core doctrinal issue.

[...] In January 2016, the primates decided how to treat a province that changed its canons on marriage. Instead of following through on that, Welby's solution is to have another meeting of all the primates. In other words, the solution is to talk some more.

…Now, this may give the impression that the Archbishop's long-term aim is to keep everyone talking. If we can simply keep everyone sat around the same table, talking and walking with one another, remain part of the same denomination in spite of our differences of opinion, then we have managed to maintain unity.

…His letter is highly critical of the prospect of Anglican primates consecrating a bishop to work in another province. There is not one word of censure for the actions of SEC that have triggered this sad but necessary development.

…The Archbishop has chosen to lay in hard against those who would cross man-made provincial boundaries, whilst remaining silent about blatant infringement of the revealed will of God, as spoken by Jesus himself.

GAFCON UK is delighted at the announcement that its chairman Canon Andy Lines is to be consecrated by the Anglican Church in North America as a missionary bishop to Europe under the auspices of GAFCON. We believe this will play an important part in the renewal of orthodox Anglican Christianity in Britain and further afield.

First of all, this is an immediate and courageous response to the most recent developments in the Scottish Episcopal Church’s decision to change its Canons on marriage. However, the necessity for alternative Episcopal oversight in Scotland also applies to all corners of Britain, because the issues which underlie the SEC’s move are common to Anglicanism throughout the country.

At the heart of this crisis is a refusal to accept that the God of the Bible speaks clearly to his people through his written Word and the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. Whether this takes the form of outright denial of core biblical doctrines, or a more subtle advocacy of the mutual flourishing of plural and even contradictory viewpoints, it amounts to a rejection of the self-disclosed nature of the Christian God himself.

Humanity is created in God’s own image. Nothing is more serious for humanity than to reject God’s revelation of himself and substitute for it a version of God fashioned in our own image. And yet that is what is happening in the Anglican churches of Britain where apostolic biblical truth is not affirmed and actively upheld.

In preferring to conform to the passing, contemporary culture around them rather than faithfulness to God’s Word, and in ignoring the clearly stated consequences of their actions (for example after Canterbury 2016), the SEC has followed The Episcopal Church (of the USA) and the Anglican Church in Canada in dividing the Communion. The joint Communique of Gafcon and Global South (representing the large majority of Anglicans worldwide) after meeting in Cairo in October 2016 was clear about the actions which would result in churches “severing themselves from their own spiritual roots…”.The leadership of SEC has tragically done just this, and so severed itself from Christian orthodoxy and from fellowship with most Anglicans worldwide.

However all is not lost. Gafcon has always said that it stands ready to assist those faithful Anglicans in Scotland who cannot go along with the decision of their governing body. In the absence of effective response by the official Instruments of Communion, the Gafcon Primates have made good on their promise by authorizing the consecration of Andy Lines, who will provide authentic faithful oversight to faithful Anglicans in Scotland, and churches in the Anglican Mission in England, as well as linking orthodox Anglicans in England, Scotland and Wales with the global fellowship of Gafcon.

This address was recently given by a priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church to a gathering of clergy and lay people in one of the more remote areas of Scotland. Many will share these reflections of deep theological and practical concern about the proposed change to Canon 31 (relating to marriage and human sexuality).

[…] It all started back in 2007, when Reverends Matthew and Ann Kennedy made the difficult decision, alongside dozens of other congregations, to leave The Episcopal Church (TEC) due to the latter’s departure from orthodox biblical Christianity.

Gafcon UK are aware that Jesmond Parish Church have for some years been in a form of impaired communion with the Bishop of Newcastle, and have developed a special relationship with REACH-SA (formerly CESA).

Over the past few years, several clergy have been ordained by REACH Bishops to serve in the Jesmond church network and in one other part of England.

The leadership of Jesmond church have for some time been speaking publicly about the need for new missionary Bishops in Western nations who can oversee new Anglican ministries in the Celtic model. The reasoning can be found in the statement from the 2017 Jesmond Conference, here.

Gafcon UK have been informed of the latest developments but cannot comment further at this stage.

GAFCON UK would like to thank the GAFCON Primates for their courageous spiritual leadership, consisting of clear re-statement of the essentials of the faith, and practical action to take forward the mission of global Anglicanism in the 21st century.

We appreciate the way in which the Communique both looks back – to the witness of those who brought about the Reformation of the Church in the 16th century; and looks forward – to the exciting vision of multicultural and united Anglicanism which will be celebrated at the third GAFCON conference in Jerusalem, 2018.

The statement also reminds us of the serious suffering experienced in many parts of the world, where Anglicans minister sacrificially with only a fraction of the necessary resources, yet they remain faithful, trusting in God to provide. As affluent Westerners we repent of our complacency and lack of compassion, and commit ourselves to partnering more intentionally to support the church where it serves in contexts of desperate need.

The Primates go on to talk about the challenges in the Global North, “the increasing influence of materialism, secularism, and the loss of moral foundations” which are “spiritually dangerous”. We recognize the need to repent of our participation in a weak version of the Christian faith which has too often failed to point out these dangers or even made accommodation with them.

This accommodation and ‘cultural captivity’ is seen in the failure by many Anglican leaders in the UK to hold to the key principles of Holy Scripture as speaking clearly to God’s will for human flourishing, and of requiring unequivocal obedience whatever the cost. It is shown, for example, in unwillingness to be clear about the uniqueness of Jesus and the authority of the Bible, and rejection of clear biblical teaching God’s gift of sex and marriage, and of celibate singleness.

This has contributed to the increasing concern that many faithful clergy and lay people in the Church of England, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales feel about the revisionist trajectory of these churches. As the Communique points out clearly, some Anglicans are already outside of these structures and need Episcopal oversight; others may do so soon.

So we warmly welcome the decision of the Primates to consecrate a missionary Bishop who will fulfil this function. We appreciate the way GAFCON has recognized that this intervention is giving global support to one of a number of initiatives being taken by biblically orthodox Anglicans in Britain; others include the work being done to strengthen the Free Church of England. Meanwhile the Primates have generously expressed respect for and continued warm fellowship with those who for the moment are choosing to remain within the official structures and contend for orthodox biblical faith there, while warning that inaction in the face of revisionist pressure is not a faithful option.

We understand that more will be revealed about the plans for the consecration in due course. We commit ourselves to prayer about this and invite all who hold to the historic and trustworthy teaching of our faith to join us.

“GAFCON is enabling the Anglican Communion to be fit for God’s purposes in the twenty-first century. We are uniting Anglicans around the world in faithful witness to Jesus Christ and recovering Biblical truth where it has been compromised. There is much still to do, but we give great thanks to God for his grace at work among us.”
Archbishop Nicholas Okoh - GAFCON Chairman

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